The Spaces Between
by Spottedfyre
Summary: A series of one-shots set after the end of "The Gods Must be Crazy" and before "When Life Gives You Dragons".


A/N: Hi, everybody! Like I said in the summary, this is going to be a collection of one-shots that don't follow any particular order and are either fragments of Marcel and/or Remy's lives between Lucien's death and the start of _When Life Gives You Dragons..._. And an excuse for me to write short, fluffy things when I want to. Reading _The Gods Must be Crazy _and/or _When Life Gives You Dragons..._is not required before reading this, but I would recommend reading at least one.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the OCs.

And Hypherion betareads this.

On with the chapter! I hope you enjoy it, and any and all feedback is appreciated!

"Mama?"

Remy groaned, dragging himself into an almost-sitting position. It was hard to see in the nearly pitch-darkness that filled the Cheydinhal Sanctuary at night, but he could just make out the small silhouette of a child standing at the foot of his bed. "What is it, Marcel?"

"I can't sleep... Can I stay in here with you tonight?" Marcel didn't wait for an answer, and hopped into the bed next to him before he could get a single word.

"Why can't you sleep?" Remy had claimed Ocheeva's old room as his for the nights he spent at the Sanctuary and, after years of sharing his bed with Marcel, he'd finally convinced his son to sleep on his own cot in the Sanctuary living quarters. Or so he'd thought. The Dunmer had been enjoying spending a night that didn't involve him sitting awake for hours while he contemplated how a five-year-old somehow managed to occupy the entire bed.

"It's really dark and scary in there... And I could hear the Dark Guardian walking around outside."

"This room isn't any different."

"But you're in here... Nothing bad can get me when you're around, right?"

"Of course not," Remy replied, ruffling the boy's hair. He would have died before he allowed any harm to come to his child, even if his reaction to the Sanctuary's Dark Guardian turning on them probably would have been to grab Marcel and run away screaming into the night.

"Does that mean I can sleep here tonight?" Marcel asked, staring imploringly into his mother's eyes.

"All right." Remy had never been able to say 'no' to his child when he had that look in his big, red eyes. At least Marcel didn't take advantage if it _too _often.

"Thank you, mama!" Marcel pulled the blanket over himself and snuggled up next to Remy. "Will you tell me a story?"

"It's a bit late for that, don't you think? You need to get some sleep."

"But I can't go to sleep without a story."

Remy was exhausted, but not too exhausted to realize that trying to convince Marcel that it was too late for stories would probably take more time than actually telling him a story would. "I'll tell you _one _story. Then you have to go to sleep, all right?"

"Yes, mama. ...Do you think you could tell me one about you and Papa?"

Remy was silent for a moment, trying to find a way to speak around the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. He hadn't expected Marcel to ask about that; the boy usually wanted stories about dragons, or brave warriors. Still, he supposed he should have known that this would happen eventually. He probably would've been curious about his father, too, if his mother had raised him and told him as little about whoever the man was as he'd told Marcel about Lucien. "What about us?" he finally asked.

"I dunno... How did you meet each other?"

"Well," the Dunmer suddenly realized how difficult any part of he and Lucien's relationship was going to be to make child-friendly, "The Night Mother decided she wanted me to join the Dark Brotherhood, and sent him to recruit me. So he went to the inn I was staying at, let himself into my room while I was sleeping, and waited for me to wake up. When I did wake up, I wasn't expecting to see a strange Imperial standing over me, and I got scared and tackled him. We got into a bit of a fight, and he won, and he convinced me to join the Dark Brotherhood. Then he left."

"What happened after that?"

"Well, he visited me a few times, and one thing led to another, and-"

"Were you in love?"

"That's... complicated."

Marcel tilted his head to the side, obviously confused. "If you weren't in love, how did you have a baby?"

"Um... Sometimes, people don't realize they love each other until _after _they find out they're going to have a baby." Granted, Remy had no idea if Lucien had loved him, but he wasn't going to complicate things any more than he needed to. He was sure the Imperial would have understood. And probably would have thought of a better way to explain things, too. But that wasn't the point.

Marcel yawned, "That makes sense. Goodnight, mama."

"Goodnight, Marcel." And, just as he had every other night he'd shared his bed with Marcel, Remy found himself sitting awake and wondering how in Sithis' name a five-year-old managed to occupy the entire bed.


End file.
